Arvo Turtiainen

Arvo Albin Turtiainen (16 September 1904 – 8 October 1980) was a Finnish writer and translator.

Biography Turtiainen was born in 1904 to mother Ida Lovisa Väätäinen and father Ernst Turtiainen, a tailor. His father, as a young man, sang in a choir, participated in drama clubs and wrote poems. From his father Arvo inherited an artistic tendency along with a left-wing worldview.

Turtiainen attended five years at Ressu Upper Secondary School and graduated as a dental technician. From 1932−1933 he studied at the University of Tampere and worked as a journalist afterwards, until he became a freelance writer in 1934. He also worked for the socialist magazine 40-luku (The 40's) from 1945 to 1947.

Literary career Turtiainen was a board member with the literary group Tulenkantajat from 1937 to 1939 and started writing for the group's magazine Tulenkantajat. His debut work Muutos (Change) was published in 1936 and his only novel Rautakourat (Iron Fists) was published in 1938.

Based on his prison experience, he wrote the works Ihminen n:o 503/42 (Person No. 503/42) and Laulu kiven ja raudan ympyrässä (A song in a circle of stone and iron). particularly for his depictions of Helsinki's working class. He also used "stadi" (Helsinki) slang in several poems.

As a translator, Turtianen translated into Finnish the works of Edgar Lee Masters, Graham Greene, Vladimir Mayakovsky and Walt Whitman, among others.

Works Muutos (1936) Rautakourat (1938) Tie pilven alta (1939) Palasin kotiin (1944) Laulu kiven ja raudan ympyrässä (1945) Ihminen n:o 503/42 (1946) Laulu puolueelle (1946) Tapahtui satamassa (1954) Laulu ajasta ja rakkaudesta (1954) Minä rakastan (1955) Syyskevät (1959) Minä paljasjalkainen (1962) Runoja 1943–64 (1964) Hyvää joulua (1967) Puheita Porthaninrinteellä (1968) Leivän kotimaa (1974) Runoja 1934–68 (1974) Minun maailmani: Kirjoituksia 1932–1975 (1978)